Dancing On Thin Ice
by meteoritecrater
Summary: *Brittany/Santana/Mike* The first Brittany says I love you, she breathes it with eyes widened in awe.


The first time Brittany says I love you, she breathes it with eyes widened in awe. She's seen the boy around school – she knows he takes English with her and his name is Mike, but she's not sure she's even heard him speak before he shows up at one of her contemporary dance classes. Mike is bare chested and sweating as emotion flows through him, and trying to hold herself back from getting up to dance with him is one of the hardest things Brittany has ever done. Her thighs jerk against the seat of the chair and her fingers mimic the movement of his hands as his body extends with the music.

Mike Chang is the most beautiful dance Brittany has ever seen.

Brittany claps harder than everyone else, hands above her head, and she doesn't know how she missed the dance in him because she can see it even when he hurries over to take his seat. He's blushing and his eyes are downcast, but Brittany keeps grinning at him until he looks up. When he smiles back his eyes crinkle in a shy flash of brown, and Brittany decides right then and there that she has to dance with him before she goes home. They dance while there are still people from their class watching, and it's like a laugh embodied and put to song. When Brittany realises the rest of the class has gone and they're alone, she dances closer, skating fingers purposefully over muscle and breathing desire into his skin.

Mike's smile is warm as he tangles their fingers together and asks her if she wants to get a milkshake.

* * *

Mike Chang is a pain in Santana's ass. For one thing, he refuses to have sex with her without dating first, which, gross. Santana doesn't do dating unless it's one of those 'get a free meal and fuck' kind of deals, because she's totally not against abusing Puck's credit card whenever she's given the opportunity. She's kind of mystified when Mike says 'but, I _like_ you,' because she's pretty sure that if he really liked her he would've taken her up on the back of his car sex she was offering.

Whatever. It's not like she's offended or anything - Mike's probably gay for Kurt, which she probably should've realised earlier from that whole dancing thing - it's just that he's kind of ruining her and Brittany's race to see who can get through all the footballers first.

Santana decides Brittany must be like, a gay boy whisperer or something, because first she totally managed to convince Kurt to dial down the homo for her, and then she managed to get Mike to fuck her. Brittany says brightly that all she had to do was date him, but that it's okay, it doesn't mean she has to stop sleeping with Santana. Santana tells her that's like, the definition of dating, but she shakes her head and says it can't be, because she checked with Mikey.

Mike smirks at her when she passes him in the halls, and when she glares and tells him to fuck off, his laughter is rich with 'I knew it.'

Mike Chang is a total pain in the ass.

* * *

The second time Brittany says I love you, it's a quiet whisper into dark hair, after she's sure the lulling movements of fingers over bare skin have put Santana to sleep. She looks at her curtains dancing to the music of the balmy summer wind and her gaze drifts through the open window Santana entered by, wishing that she could bring herself to close it.

* * *

Mike, Puck, and Brittany are the core group of Santana's circle of friends. They hang out together more often than they let anyone join them - half because the four of them are almost immune to letting drama come between them (babygate and credit scores be damned), and half because if they ever invited anyone else they'd just end up smoking through Brittany's dad's pot stash quicker. Santana isn't quite sure when it happened, but she always seems to find herself alone with Mike for most of the night. Brittany likes to curl up in her bed and fall asleep when she's high, and Puck's always the first to cave to her demands of cuddling. Santana and Mike lie in the back yard when it's nice out and sit in the undercover patio when it isn't, and it's kind of awesome just having someone to talk to without any pressure. Sometimes they fool around, but Mike always stops her when she presses too far. The first few times Mike said no Santana sulked afterwards, but it's almost as hard to stay upset with Mike as it is with Brittany. Lying like that with their backs on the wet grass, mellow with pot and the quiet warmth of the night, it's weirdly comfortable to talk to him about things she doesn't, usually, ever. Things like their parents and their crazy whatever they're both doing with Brittany. Santana actually tells him some of how much Brittany is to her, and Mike talks about thinking that he might like boys too, sometimes, and then he stares up at the stars and says he's never told anyone that, ever.

Santana thinks that might be the first time someone other than Brittany has ever trusted her with a secret.

* * *

The third time Brittany says I love you she's coming, and she misses the look of wonder on Mike's face as her whole body tightens around him. Mike is warm and gentle as he slips out of her and sinks back against the pillows, but she's bounding up out of bed and twirling from the room in search of food before he can formulate a reply. Her endless energy makes him grin, and his laughter follows her down the stairs.

* * *

Santana starts to feel sick every time she sees Brittany. The slightest difference in her smiles fascinates her, as does the way her hair bounces when she walks, and the small freckles that can't be seen until they're close enough to kiss, and the way she twirls her hair when she knows Santana is watching her, and how her lashes flutter exactly the same way when she's eating gummy bears as they do when Santana's fingers are curled inside of her. Brittany makes her feel like she's smoked too much and her head isn't buttoned on right and she's finding everything about her far prettier than it could possibly be, only it's her heart that feels raw instead of her throat.

* * *

The fourth time Brittany says I love you, it's on the phone to Santana right after she's said goodbye. Santana makes a noise that sounds like a sneeze and hangs up on her. Brittany gulps back regret and stammering explanations of habit and mistakes, and when she falls asleep her phone is still open in her hand.

* * *

Puck's totally hung up on Quinn, Brittany's cut her off for whatever crazy reason, and Santana finds herself desperately knocking on Mike's door. She could probably fuck one of the other footballers instead, but she doesn't _want_ to. She wants Puck, but he's being a douche. She wants Brittany, but she's being a douche. And she wants Mike.

Mike ends up being a douche too, but at least he lets her make out with him for a while, and when she asks him what the fuck his problem is, he just leans back against his headboard and says that sometimes he isn't sure she likes him – or anyone, really. Santana's not stoned enough to feel comfortable talking, but Mike gets that, and he lets the silence drag on for only a few moments before asking if she wants to play some basketball. Santana gets a black eye and Mike grazes his knee, but when Santana lies down on the cool concrete, her ribs ache with laughter and her fingers reach for Mike's.

* * *

The fifth time Brittany says I love you, Mike stops, tugs her further into his arms, and whispers the words back to the rhythm of the music her heart starts to dance to.

* * *

Santana watches Brittany and Mike dance together, all heat and sinew and golden movement backed by the beat of a crappy stereo and the floral wallpaper of Puck's living room, and she's never felt so alone. Santana isn't good at herself. She doesn't know what she feels except that none of it is clear, and she isn't even sure if she's mad because Mike's with Brittany or if it's because Brittany's with Mike. She does feel the anger, and later, after she's glowered at the dancing couples and bummed some cigarettes from strangers, she picks a fight with Brittany out by Puck's pool. Brittany pushes her in, fully clothed. Santana isn't quite sure what she said; she definitely tried to make out with her and she's pretty sure Brittany said no and she's a little sure that she tried something anyway. She's drunk enough to convince herself it isn't her fault, until Mike takes her upstairs, hands her a glass of water, and tells her that if she weren't a girl he would hit her. She's drunk enough to tell him to go ahead. When he puts an arm around her instead and pretends not to notice that she's crying, it only makes everything worse.

* * *

The sixth time Brittany says I love you, she says it with a laugh as Mike dances around her seat in glee club. She can feel Santana stiffen beside her instantly, and she fights to keep the laugh from slipping away.

* * *

The seventh time Brittany says I love you, she's chased Santana out into the parking lot and Santana is yelling through a throat tight with sobs. Brittany's hands are firm against Santana's cheeks, and her words are pressed into her lips like she can sear them past her skin, and her doubt, and her fear. Santana doesn't reply, but her forehead stays solid against Brittany's, and her arms stay clutched around her waist.

* * *

The first time Santana says I love you, she's sandwiched in between Mike and Brittany, and she can't stop crying, and nothing makes sense except the terror and the urge to run. But Brittany's crying too, and that keeps her in the bed as much as Mike's arm pinning her down does.

* * *

The eighth time Brittany says I love you is also the ninth, and the tenth, and the eleventh, and the twelfth. She's jumping up and down on the bed, and Santana groans and covers her head with a pillow, because she really fucking hates that Brittany gets even more energetic after she orgasms. Brittany steals the pillow from her and chucks it to the floor, bouncing on her chest and Mike's arm and demanding that they say it back before she'll let them go to sleep. Santana grumbles that she doesn't, at all, so leave her alone, but her eyes open blearily when Mike bats a lazy arm at her. Brittany's pout is way too close to her face for her to do anything but concede, "I love you both." Brittany squawks and lands heavily on top of her, kissing her lips firmly then rolling off to run downstairs for food. Mike draws Santana closer, and she can't help but blush a little as he lands a sleepy kiss on her collar and says I love you back. He sounds so grateful it hurts, but when she apologises all he does is squeeze her and tell her to shut up, because he needs his beauty sleep. And Santana knows that means that it's okay to stop hurting now, because she's in Mike's arms and Brittany's raiding her fridge, and all three of them are smiling.


End file.
